Kudzu Blues

Kudzu Blues Kudzu Blues is my radio show which can be streamed (almost) every Sunday night on Knox College's WVKC HD2. Stream at . All real blues, man.

Please come out and hear these jazz cats, Derrill, Matt and Andy are at Craft On Seminary Street both Friday Oct. 25, a...
10/25/2024

Please come out and hear these jazz cats, Derrill, Matt and Andy are at Craft On Seminary Street both Friday Oct. 25, and Sat. Oct 26. No cover , but tips are hip!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOBBY & JOHNBobby & John ImagePHOTO CREDIT: Chloe WeirCosmic twins Bobby and Johnny celebrate another cir...
10/16/2024

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOBBY & JOHN
Bobby & John Image
PHOTO CREDIT: Chloe Weir
Cosmic twins Bobby and Johnny celebrate another circle around the sun today. We've plucked a handful of their most in sync musical moments right here.

On Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, I finally took time to walk to this iconic sign for Clarksdale, Mississippi for a photo. It's...
10/16/2024

On Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, I finally took time to walk to this iconic sign for Clarksdale, Mississippi for a photo. It's on State Street, heading South. Much better to make a photo from a sidewalk than thru the windshield of a moving car, and safer.

Just received a media pass again for the 2024 King Biscuit Blues Festival, which will help me make photos of the blues t...
08/29/2024

Just received a media pass again for the 2024 King Biscuit Blues Festival, which will help me make photos of the blues this October in Helena, Arkansas. My blues buddies, Bernie and Liz Berntson first took me to KBBF on 1993 in their van. Now it seems like a family reunion, especially with Mayor Mike and everyone else in Tent City. Although Carla has attended in the past, she can't go this year. It's almost too much fun!

08/20/2024

It's John Nemath day in Galesburg , Illinois. Doors open at Smokin Wi***es on N. Cherry St. @ 4 PM. Opening band @ 5 PM. Showtime for one of the best blues singers out of Memphis is 6PM. Don't meet me there, beat me there! Ticket available at the door. Please support live blues music in Galesburg!

Howdy. Go out and buy a sheet of these stamps today. They are so cool you won’t want to use them. It’s wild to realize A...
08/15/2024

Howdy. Go out and buy a sheet of these stamps today. They are so cool you won’t want to use them. It’s wild to realize A. A. Has been gone for 40 years...

08/14/2024

I am sorry to announce that my weekly streaming radio show, Kudzu Blues, has been canceled for the rest of the 2024 summer. Knox College is doing some remodeling in George Davis Hall, so the station is closed. I hope to be back in the early Fall of 2024. Hopefully Knox is making progress on th re-hab of an old Knox College building.
Thanks for digging the blues!

Rick Berthod, David "Bernie" Berntson, CJ Chuck Jones, Bruce Nelson, and Matt Fuller, at Chuck's back yard , Sept. 2023...
08/14/2024

Rick Berthod, David "Bernie" Berntson, CJ Chuck Jones, Bruce Nelson, and Matt Fuller, at Chuck's back yard , Sept. 2023.

David "Bernie " Berntson is planning to come back to Galesburg next week to show his friend Joost Jansen his hometown. ...
08/14/2024

David "Bernie " Berntson is planning to come back to Galesburg next week to show his friend Joost Jansen his hometown. They are planning to attend Burl Varner's blues blast at Smokin' Wi***es BBQ , 161 N. Cherry, on Tuesday August 20 with Jon Nemath. Our friend Rick Berthod is opening for Jon. Hopefully, Bernie will get a chance to get up and play a song with Rick, as he did when Rick played the MVBS Bluesfest last Sept. in Davenport. Wayland Cunningham is a co-owner of Smokin' Wi***es BBQ and is the grandson of the late great harp player, Sonnyman Jim Range. Sonny actually came over to the 188 Pine Street house and jammed on a Wed. night a couple time, back when we all had long hair and drank Stroh's in 16 OZ bottles.

Rick Berthod is coming back to the Midwest from Nevada, to open for Jon Nemath on Tuesday August 20, at the new Smokin' ...
08/14/2024

Rick Berthod is coming back to the Midwest from Nevada, to open for Jon Nemath on Tuesday August 20, at the new Smokin' Wi***es BBQ at 161 N. Cherry Street in beautiful Downtown Galesburg Illinois (it use to be the Moose Lodge) at 5 PM. Rick has opened for Jon Nemath several times!
Rick is a wonderful blues guitar player who used to live in this area. Made this photo of Rick when he was playing at the MVBS bluesfest in Davenport, Iowa, last Sept. I have two of Rick's CD's and they are quite fun! Come for the tunes, and then stay for the food (but not many vegan options). Peace

Please do not miss the 2024 winner for best blues soul artist John Németh. Catch him live Tuesday August 20 at Smokin' W...
08/12/2024

Please do not miss the 2024 winner for best blues soul artist John Németh. Catch him live Tuesday August 20 at Smokin' Wi***es BBQ, Galesburg Illinois! Rick Berthod will open the show at 5pm. May even be a special guest from Tulsa! Tickets available on Eventbrite. https://www.eventbrite.com/.../john-nemeth-live-at-smokin...

08/05/2024

Having fun with a viral joke is not the same as lying relentlessly.

Happy 88th birthday Buddy Guy! Made this photo at the 2024 Chicago Blues Festival.-> https://musicthisday.com/-> https:/...
07/30/2024

Happy 88th birthday Buddy Guy! Made this photo at the 2024 Chicago Blues Festival.

-> https://musicthisday.com/
-> https://musicthisday.com/.../100-legendary-blues-artists
George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer. In the 1960s, Guy played with Muddy Waters as a session guitarist at Chess Records and began a musical partnership with blues harp virtuoso Junior Wells.
Guy has won eight Grammy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Medal of Arts, and the Kennedy Center Honors. Guy was ranked 27th in Rolling Stone magazine's 2023 list of greatest guitarists of all time. His song "Stone Crazy" was ranked 78th in the Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time". Clapton once described him as "the best guitar player alive". In 1999, Guy wrote the book Damn Right I've Got the Blues, with Donald Wilcock. His autobiography, When I Left Home: My Story, was published in 2012.

Thank you to Shirley Mae and her staff. They made my scanned 3 1/5 5 prints look pretty good. P. S. Not many folks us...
06/28/2024

Thank you to Shirley Mae and her staff. They made my scanned 3 1/5 5 prints look pretty good.
P. S. Not many folks used Canon A1 cameras . It was the upgrade to the AE-1. PAX. TF

On a overcast Sunday morning on October 12, 2003, Robert Lockwood and a bunch of blues musicians met in Tutwiler, Mississippi for a group photo planned, produced, and photographed by Robert Junior Whitall, with assistance from Shirley Mae Owens. Robert Junior arranged and posed the twenty-nine blues musicians near the same railroad tracks in Tutwiler, (a short drive South of Clarksdale) where WC Handy first heard a blue song played in 1903.
The King Biscuit Blues Festival had just finished the night before in Helena, Arkansas, which is forty-five miles away. Robert Junior knew that Robert Lockwood played every year at the KBBF. Arrangements were made with Mr. Lockwood but then he requested other blues music be invited. 2003 had been declared the Year of the Blues. Many blues stars of them showed up in Tutwiler, including Sam Carr, Pinetop Perkins. Johnie Billingham, Willie King, Charlie Musslewhite, Super Chiken, Willie “ Big Eyes” Smith, Aaron “Hardhead” Hodge, and Bob Stoger, plus others.
Robert Junior was very cordial while he herded the musicians to their spots. Several exposures were made on his Canon A1 camera, which uses 35 mm film. Robert Junior invited all the blues fans watching the photo shoot to join in with the blue stars. Over 70 people were in the second group photo including Shirley Mae. Both photos were published in the December 2003/January 2004 edition of Big City Rhythm Blues, with a story by Dirk Wissbaum.

Subscribe, today, man!. I do.
06/28/2024

Subscribe, today, man!. I do.

06/24/2024

I am sorry to announce that my weekly streaming radio show, Kudzu Blues, has been canceled for the rest of the 2024 summer. Knox College is doing some remodeling in George Davis Hall, so the station is closed. I hope to be back in the early Fall of 2024.

Thanks for digging the blues!

Ben Levin, at the Chicago Blues Festival, June 7, 2024. (photo by Tom Foley, © 2024) BEN LEVINBen Levin is a pianist/voc...
06/21/2024

Ben Levin, at the Chicago Blues Festival, June 7, 2024. (photo by Tom Foley, © 2024)

BEN LEVIN
Ben Levin is a pianist/vocalist based in Cincinnati, OH. Ben has released four albums on the Vizztone Label Group and has three Blues Music Award nominations including best piano player of the year (2023, 2024).
Ben's latest album, "Take Your Time", released in October 2022, features collaborations with blues legends Lil' Ed, Bob Stroger, and Lil' Jimmy Reed. The album received daily airplay for two months on Sirius XM radio and reached number seven on Living Blues radio charts.
Based on the success of their single, "I've Been Drinking Muddy Water", Ben and Lil' Jimmy joined forces again in the studio with Ben producing and co-writing songs with Jimmy. "Back To Baton Rouge" was released in May 2023 on NOLA Blue and reached number two on Living Blues radio charts.
In October 2023, Ben released an EP, "Waiting Just For You", on Vizztone with Bay area-based jazz vocalist Stella Heath. They hired legendary Cincinnati jazz musicians Art Gore on drums (who has worked with artists such as George Benson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and Lonnie Liston Smith) and Jim Anderson on bass (who has worked with artists such as Art Blakey, Ernestine Anderson, and Hank Crawford).
With Stella’s background in jazz and a love for blues, and Ben’s background in blues with a love for jazz, the two met musically in the middle. “Waiting Just For You” showcases four duets in a style where blues and jazz intersect to create a beautiful, classic sound.
Ben maintains a busy touring schedule and his 2024 schedule will take him around the country, with shows at the Chicago Blues Fest, Bayfront Blues Fest, and Concerts on the Beach in Somers Point New Jersey.

Address

114 E. Simmons Street
Galesburg, IL
61401

Opening Hours

9pm - 10pm

Telephone

+13093513465

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